Refrigerator

ABSTRACT

A refrigerator having a refrigerator body and a component chamber provided in the refrigerator body to accommodate components includes a condenser provided in the component chamber, and has a plurality of condensing parts positioned separately from each other. The refrigerator also includes at least one fan provided in the component chamber, to cool the condenser. Thus, the refrigerator has a condenser with an improved heat radiating efficiency.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2004-65183 filed on Aug. 18, 2004, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator having a condenser with an improved heat radiating efficiency.

2. Description of the Related Art

Conventionally, a refrigerator includes a refrigerator body having a cooling compartment and a freezing compartment. The cooling compartment and freezing compartment has a cooling compartment door and a freezing compartment door, respectively, to open and close front openings of the cooling compartment and freezing compartment. A component chamber is provided in a lower space of the refrigerating body. A compressor to compress a refrigerant and a condenser to condense the refrigerant from the compressor are installed within the component chamber.

A cooling means to cool hot air generated in the compressor and the condenser is mounted on the component chamber. The cooling means includes an inlet provided on a rear cover and positioned adjacent to a condenser, an outlet provided on the rear cover and positioned adjacent to a compressor, and a cooling fan provided between the compressor and the condenser, to forcibly flow air inside the compartment chamber.

However, the cooling fan is generally provided as a fan 102 to send air toward the condenser 103, as illustrated in FIG. 5A, or otherwise, as a fan 112 to inhale air from the condenser 113, as illustrated in FIG. 5B. The fan 102 and 112 and the condenser 103 and 113 are provided in the component chamber 110.

The fan 102 sending the air toward the condenser, as illustrated in FIG. 5A, causes a problem in that direct movement of the air is distorted in front of the condenser 103 because of resistance from a tube and fins of the condenser 103.

The fan 112 inhaling the air from the condenser 113, as illustrated in FIG. 5B, causes a problem in that direct movement of the air is distorted because of resistance from a rear of the condenser 113.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide a refrigerator having a condenser with an improved heat radiating efficiency.

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention are achieved by providing a refrigerator having a refrigerator body and a component chamber provided in the refrigerator body and accommodating components. The refrigerator includes a condenser provided in the component chamber, and has a plurality of condensing parts positioned separately from each other. The refrigerator also includes at least one fan provided in the component chamber to cool the condenser.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the fan is provided between the plurality of condensing parts.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the plurality of condensing parts are provided in a pair.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the fan is interposed between the pair of condensing parts, to inhale air from any one of the pair of condensing parts and to send the air to the other of the pair of condensing parts.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the pair of condensing parts are integrally connected.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a prospective view of a refrigerator, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a component chamber of a refrigerator, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the flow of air when a fan provided in the component chamber of FIG. 2 is driven;

FIG. 4 is a graph comparing an efficiency of heat radiating of a conventional refrigerator and that of a refrigerator according to the present invention; and

FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams illustrating the flow of air when a fan provided in the component chamber of a conventional refrigerator is driven.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a refrigerator according to the present invention includes a refrigerator body 1 internally having a cooling compartment 10 and a freezing compartment 20 in a right and a left thereof. The refrigerator body 1 also includes a cooling compartment door 11 and a freezing compartment door 21 to open and close the respective front openings of the cooling compartment 10 and the freezing compartment 20. Door guides 12 and 22 to receive therein bottles and the like, are disposed in a vertical direction inside each of the cooling compartment door 11 and the freezing compartment door 21.

A plurality of racks 23 and a plurality of receiving boxes 24 for the freezing compartment 20 are vertically displaced in the freezing compartment 20, which is provided in the left side of the refrigerator body 1. A plurality of racks 13 and a plurality of receiving boxes 14 for the cooling compartment 10 are vertically displaced in the cooling compartment 10, which is provided in the right side of the refrigerator body 1.

Referring to FIG. 2, a component chamber 30 to receive multiple device components is provided in a rear lower space of the refrigerator body 1. Within the component chamber 30 are installed components including a compressor 31 to compress a refrigerant, a condenser 32 to condense the refrigerant from the compressor 31, and a fan 33 to cool the condenser 32. The compressor 31 and the condenser 32 are separately installed at opposite sides of the component chamber 30.

The condenser 32 and the fan 33 are provided on a supporting plate 34 installed within the component chamber 30. The condenser 32 includes a first condensing part 32 a and a second condensing part 32 b. The fan 33 is displaced between the first condensing part 32 a and the second condensing part 32 b. The first condensing part 32 a and the second condensing part 32 b are integrally connected with a space to separate the first condensing part 32 a and the second condensing part 32 b from each other, to thereby condense the refrigerant supplied from the compressor 31.

The first condensing part 32 a is displaced between the compressor 31 and the fan 33 and the fan 33 is displaced in a space between the first condensing part 32 a and the second condensing part 32 b.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the fan 33 inhales air from the second condensing part 32 b and sends the air toward the first condensing part 32 a.

The flow of air inside the component chamber 30 due to the fan 33 is shown in FIG. 3. Air is inhaled into the fan 33 through the second condensing part 32 b. The air inhaled into the fan 33 is sent into the first condensing part 32 a, and the air, having passed the first condensing part 32 a, is directed toward the compressor 31.

When a component such as the compressor 31 installed within the component chamber 30 is operated as an operation of the refrigerator starts operating, air inside the component chamber 30 is raised in temperature because of the heat generated as a result of operation of the component. The air inside the component chamber 30 is thereby circulated according to driving of the fan 33.

According to the present invention, air is moved toward the first condensing part 32 a through the second condensing part 32 b from the fan 33 by the condenser 32. The condenser 32 includes the first and the second condensing parts 32 a and 32 b positioned separately from each other, and the fan 33 displaced between the first condensing part 32 a and the second condensing part 32 b. As a result, the refrigerator according to the present invention has an improved efficiency of condensation in comparison with the conventional refrigerator as illustrated in FIG. 5A or FIG. 5B.

The above-described features of the present invention may be more clearly ascertained by reference to a graph in FIG. 4, which compares the condensing efficiency of the conventional art and that of the present invention.

According to the graph in FIG. 4, a bar elevated higher toward a vertical axis indicates a higher efficiency of heat radiation. Referring to FIG. 4, the efficiency of condensation of the refrigerator according to the present invention, is remarkably higher than the conventional refrigerator as illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B.

As described above, the condensing efficiency of the refrigerator according to the present invention is remarkably improved by allowing the condenser 32 to include the first condensing part 32 a and the second condensing part 32 b displaced separately from each other, and the fan 33 to be interposed between the first and the second condensing parts.

In the exemplary embodiment described above, a pair of condensing parts are provided. However, the number of condensing parts is not limited but may be increased as necessary. Likewise, a fan is interposed between the pair of condensing parts in the above-described embodiment, but the number of fans may be increased according to the number of condensers.

Also in the above-described embodiment, a plurality of condensing parts are integrally connected. However, the plurality of condensing parts are manufactured independently and are then connected by a coupler. The present invention provides a refrigerator having a condenser whose heat radiating efficiency is improved according to the present invention.

Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents. 

1. A refrigerator having a refrigerator body and a component chamber provided in the refrigerator body to accommodate components, comprising: a condenser provided in the component chamber, and having a plurality of condensing parts positioned separately from each other; and at least one fan provided in the component chamber, to cool the condenser.
 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the fan is provided between the plurality of condensing parts.
 3. The refrigerator according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of condensing parts are provided in pair.
 4. The refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein the fan is interposed between the pair of condensing parts, to inhale air from any one of the pair of condensing parts and to send the air to the other of the pair of condensing parts.
 5. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the pair of condensing parts are integrally connected.
 6. The refrigerator according to claim 4, wherein the pair of condensing parts are integrally connected.
 7. The refrigerator according to claim 2, further comprises: a compressor to compress a refrigerant; and the condenser to condense the refrigerant from the compressor; wherein the compressor and the condenser are separately installed at opposite sides of the component chamber.
 8. The refrigerator according to claim 7, wherein one of the plurality of condensing parts is displaced between the compressor and the fan, and the fan is displaced in a space between the one of the plurality of condensing parts and another one of the plurality of condensing parts.
 9. A refrigerator having a refrigerator body and a component chamber provided in the refrigerator body to accommodate components, comprising: a plurality of condensers provided in the component chamber, each having a plurality of condensing parts positioned separately from each other; and at least one fan provided in the component chamber and between each of the plurality of condensing parts to cool the condensers.
 10. A refrigerator having a refrigerator body and a component chamber provided in the refrigerator body to accommodate components, comprising: a compressor provided in the component chamber to compress a refrigerant; a condenser provided in the component chamber to condense the refrigerant from the compressor; and at least one fan provided in the component chamber to cool the condenser, wherein the condenser includes a first condensing part and a second condensing part positioned separately from each other, and the fan is provided between the first condensing part and the second condensing part. 